Self-contained infant bathtubs for bathing infants on countertops, in sinks, and in full-sized tubs are well known. Such infant bathtubs are typically used for bathing infants up to one to two years of age. These tubs are typically used on a regular, periodic basis, and may be used as frequently as every day. For a variety of reasons, the tubs may not be fully drained in between uses. Nevertheless, it is preferable for the tubs to completely dry out between uses as standing water left in the tub may cause mildew and the like to form.
One example of an infant bathtub is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 32,806, issued to Gurolnick. Gurolnick shows one of the terminal ends of the tub having a handle with a recess formed on the undersurface thereof. According to Gurolnick, the recess is suitably configured for suspending the device from a towel rack or shower curtain rod in a shower stall. Unfortunately, there are several drawbacks to the Gurolnick approach. First of all, the Gurolnick handle cannot be separated from the tub itself, which may at times prove to be a disadvantage. Second, the particular shape of the Gurolnick handle as disclosed would be difficult to manufacture in an injection-molding process because of the nature of the recess in the handle. This could cause the tub to be prohibitively expensive to produce both from an initial capital expense standpoint due to the complex mold necessary, and from a time-to-produce standpoint because the cycle time of the tool to produce the tub would have to be longer in order to produce the handle feature described.
Third, by hanging the tub from the end of a member extending out from the head end of the tub as shown in Gurolnick, the lower end of the tub may hang down so close to the ground as to allow a toddler to pull or knock the tub off of the shower curtain rod or towel rack. Fourth, the handle disclosed in Gurolnick extends across the entire width of the tub which is a significant use of material that may also increase the cost of the tub. Fifth, since the handle is a unitary portion of the Gurolnick tub, it appears to be composed of the same material as the remainder of the tub. The different functions of (1) hanging the tub from a shower curtain rod or towel rack and (2) providing a suitable surface for containing water in a tub for bathing by an infant may be different enough as to call for different plastic materials. Sixth, the design shown in Gurolnick does not appear to be such as to rest in a stable and substantially horizontal position on a support surface due to the relative positions of the bottoms of the two trough portions and the handle in the Gurolnick tub.
It may also be desirable to provide a means for suspending a small infant above the bathtub, wherein the means could be easily dried out as well. It is against this background, and the desire to solve the problems of the prior art, that the present invention has been developed.